Miss STEM: A Review of HockaSTEM Competitions

As we close the door on January and February and look on to the month ahead (exams…and spring break! are right around the corner), I believe now is a good time to look back and acknowledge Hockaday girls’ STEM accomplishments over the past months. January and February are the busiest months of the year in terms of STEM competitions, and I am proud to say that we have done some pretty cool things!

Jan. 26, 2016: 13th Annual Metroplex Math Competition

Sixteen Hockaday students accompanied by Upper School math teacher Jessica Chu competed at the Metroplex Math Competition held at St. Mark’s School of Texas and competed in various subjects including Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Precalculus and Calculus, and a team of six competed in a team test.

The AMC is the largest nationwide high school math competition, and it is the first in a series of qualifying competitions for the International Mathematics Olympiad. Students in 10th grade and under may take the AMC 10 test while students in 12th grade and under may take the AMC 12; all students may take the A exam and/or the B exam.

On Feb. 2, 2016, Upper School students competed in the AMC 10A and AMC 10B in Hicks Meeting Room. On Feb. 17, 2016, Hockaday Math Club girls competed in the B exams in Chu’s room.

Students can qualify for the “next level” – the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME) if they perform especially well in the AMC. Every year, the top 2.5 percent of students in the nation who take the AMC 10 and the top 5 percent who take the AMC 12 can qualify for the AIME. This year, we had nine Hockaday girls qualify for the AIME (See further below for more information).

Sixteen Hockaday girls accompanied by Upper School science teacher Leon de Oliveira spent the day at the University of Texas at Dallas to compete in the TEAMS competition. Two Hockaday teams competed in their own respective divisions. The 11/12 team consisting of Elizabeth Guo, Jasmine Jin, Violet Li, Gillian Meyer, Alexandra Randolph, Elizabeth Zhou and Vivian Zhou; and the 9/10 team consisting of Kaleigh Beacham, Christine Ji, Lin Lin Lee, Mira Mehta, Elaine Nyugen, Elise Nyugen, Christina Yang and Sharon Zhang.

The competition first began with an 80 minute multiple choice test in which members of a team worked together. This year’s competition theme was “Engineering the Tools of Innovation,” so the questions were divided into six topics, some of which included Optical Physics and Colonizing the Red Planet.

Next, the second part of the competition consisted of short essay answer questions and a hands-on design challenge, which was by far my favorite part. For the hands-on design challenge, we were given 20 sheets of paper; we could fold them but not rip or cut them, and our goal was to construct a paper skyscraper in 15 minutes that was as tall and cost-efficient (least amount of paper) as possible. My team built a paper skyscraper (with all of the paper) that was 78.25 inches tall! It was definitely the tallest in the room.

The 9/10 team won 2nd place in regionals (UTD), and they are still waiting to find out what their state-wide standings are.

Before the competition, the girls prepared for specific tests (such as Disease Detectives and Green Generation) and engineering events (such as Bridge Building and Air Trajectory). Each test/event was completed with a partner. In preparation, Science Olympiad team members spent hours in the JETS lab creating robot arms, wooden bridges and model airplanes as well as researching topics like population growth effects and anatomy.

CURRENT POLL STANDING:Donald Trump is currently leading in the polls and is 13.3 points above Ben Carson.

YOU NEED TO KNOW: Donald Trump’s campaign has been marred by various controversies, most significantly his inflammatory comments regarding Mexican immigrants and the infamous “wall” on the Mexican border.

CURRENT POLL STANDING:Clinton is up 27.4 points on her closest competitor, Bernie Sanders.

YOU NEED TO KNOW: Clinton has been enthralled in a controversy regarding the use of her private email server while serving as Secretary of State.

CURRENT POSITION:None.

FORMER POSITIONS: Former First Lady (married to 42nd President Bill Clinton), Former Secretary of State under the Obama Administration from 2009 to 2013, Former United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009.

Photo: Hilary Clinton during her first week of campaigning as a presidential candidate. Photo by Clay Masters, licensed under CC BY 2.0.